Category Archives: DigiGait

European researchers lead the way in advocating for the health and well-being of laboratory animals. These efforts are improving laboratory animal welfare worldwide, while driving greater awareness of refinement, replacement, and reduction of in vivo studies. Laboratory animals are used to model many human conditions that are characterized by movement disorders. Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, and arthritis, for example, disturb gait in humans; research scientists study the gait of animal models of these disorders to better understand and treat the human problems. What is the best way to comprehensively study their gait, without stress, and yet honor their great contribution to advances in improving health and well-being?

Sylvester Stallone, the creative genius behind the universally known and beloved boxer Rocky Balboa, was recently honored with the Golden Globe for the best supporting actor in his seventh “Rocky” film Creed. Mr. Stallone may yet again be awarded an Academy Award [Rocky won Best Picture in 1977], in now-realized recognition of his talents as an actor.

We recently applied DigiGait to the study of mice with a mutation in the gene that encodes transforming growth factor-β3 (TGF- β3), a murine model of a rare condition, first reported in young Ms. Bea Rienhoff. Bea’s symptoms include postural abnormalities and low muscle mass. DigiGait was designed to identify, in mice, subtle deficiencies in strength, balance, and coordination that are often present with rare diseases. The animals were provided to the Mouse Specifics team by Thomas Doetschman’s laboratory at the University of Arizona in Tucson.

Gait analysis is routinely used in patients with arthritis to assess mobility, prescribe therapy, and monitor rehabilitation. In animal models of arthritis, gait analysis instrumentation such as the DigiGait Imaging System is increasingly being incorporated as a pre-clinical assay for better understanding and treating the arthritic postural and kinematic disturbances. Read More

The DigiGait Imaging System was recently used to assess pain in the mouse model of carrageenan-induced arthritis (1). The authors sought to compare the DigiGait patented ventral plane videography technology with a competitor’s copy of the instrumentation. DigiGait detected important gait alterations after carrageenan injection that the competitor’s device was not able to detect. Read More

Leukodystrophies are a heterogeneous group of rare, usually genetic, disorders primarily affecting myelin. Named disorders include Pelizaeus-Merzbacher disease, Krabbe disease, and Canavan disease. Mouse models of such rare disorders are important to their understanding and treatment because of the availability of tools and techniques for teasing out the genetic causes and effects in mice. Gait disturbances are common to the leukodystrophies, and quantifying gait in animal models can aid in determining the efficacy of potential therapies. Read More

For countless individuals who enjoy walking and running, nothing beats a walk through the woods, a run along the beach, or laps around a track. The conveniences of a stationary treadmill to satisfy the desire for exercise or maintain health cannot be disputed. Treadmills are used routinely by millions of individuals as an alternative to walking and running overground. Treadmills, moreover, are used regularly as diagnostic tools for cardiovascular diseases and movement disorders. Read More

The most devastating effect of spinal cord injury [SCI] is the loss of the ability to walk. Animal models of SCI are critical to the development of therapies to restore locomotive capacity. The DigiGait™ Imaging System is in use worldwide to better understand and develop therapies for numerous human conditions, including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, and arthritis. Read More